Written Answers Friday 8 July 2005

Scottish Executive

Dentistry

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being put in place to ensure availability of NHS dental services in the Dunfermline East constituency.

Lewis Macdonald: NHS Fife are implementing a range of measures at improving access to NHS dental services in all areas of Fife. Examples of this are the appointment of salaried dentists and the completion of a three surgery dental centre, due to open in Dunfermline soon when NHS Fife receive a completion certificate for the building. Another centre is expected to open in Kirkcaldy in September and NHS Fife are currently appraising the options within the Lochgelly area.

Dentistry

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being put in place to ensure availability of NHS dental services in the Kirkcaldy constituency.

Lewis Macdonald: NHS Fife are implementing a range of measures to improve access to NHS dental services in Fife including Kirkcaldy. Examples are the appointment of salaried dentists and the approval and funding for an eight surgery dental centre in Kirkcaldy which is due to open in September 2005.

Dentistry

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures have been put in place to ensure the availability of NHS dental services in the Central Fife constituency.

Lewis Macdonald: NHS Fife are implementing a range of measures at improving access to NHS dental services in all areas of Fife. Examples of this are the appointment of salaried dentists and the completion of a three surgery dental centre, due to open shortly in Dunfermline. Another centre is expected to open in Kirkcaldy in September.

Dentistry

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many salaried dental posts it has agreed to fund in each NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: Approval for salaried dentist posts was devolved to NHS boards with effect from 1 April 2005. NHS boards are required to advise the Executive of posts approved locally.

  The number of salaried dentist posts approved by Scottish ministers prior to 1 April 2005 in each NHS board area is provided in the table.

  

NHS Board
No of Approved Posts1.


Argyll and Clyde
18


Ayrshire and Arran
8


Borders
9


Dumfries and Galloway
7


Fife
11


Forth Valley
12


Grampian
15


Greater Glasgow
11


Highland
39


Lanarkshire
2


Lothian
16


Orkney
8


Shetland
6


Tayside
2


Western Isles
4


Scotland
168



  Note: 1. Salaried dentist posts range from 0.1 whole-time equivalent (WTE) to 1WTE.

Education

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many special schools have closed since 1997.

Peter Peacock: Over the period 1997 to 2005, 29 publicly funded special schools and stand alone special units have closed and 57 such schools and units have opened.

Education

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the development officer appointed to take forward the development of outdoor education will seek to identify barriers to the provision of outdoor education; whether a survey will be carried out of those who provide outdoor education in the private sector in respect of what any such barriers are and, if so, whether the survey will ask specific questions on matters which may constitute such barriers.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out a survey to ascertain whether the cost to outdoor education providers of obtaining insurance cover against third party public liability risk of accidents has increased in recent years; whether information will be sought from, or a survey will be carried out of, private sector outdoor education providers on this matter and, if such a survey is to be carried out, whether it will include detailed questions seeking to elicit the amount of cover required in relation to the size and turnover of the business and the level of increase in the annual premiums payable.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out a survey of private sector providers of outdoor education to ascertain whether the availability of labour is a barrier to providing outdoor education.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on whether private sector providers of outdoor education consider the level of business rates to be a significant factor in the operation of their business.

Peter Peacock: A priority for the national development officer will be to map out current provision and identify barriers to participation in outdoor education. This will be a matter for the development officer to take forward with the support of the outdoor connections steering group. This group will consist of outdoor education experts and providers, including representatives of the private sector.

Education

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the spending per pupil was in the 10 per cent (a) least deprived and (b) most deprived local authority areas in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2002-03, (iii) 2003-04 and (iv) 2004-05.

Peter Peacock: Information on education spend per pupil by each local authority is published by the Scottish Executive in Expenditure on Scottish Education, 2005 : http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00389-00.asp .

  Figures are not yet available for 2004-05. Information on education spend per pupil is not available below the local authority level.

  There is no one way for defining which local authorities are most and least deprived. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation identifies small areas with concentrations of multiple deprivation, and its income and employment domains can be used to measure levels of deprivation at the local authority level http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/simd2004/. Other measures looking at children dependent on benefits and credits and free school meal entitlement are also available.

Education

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new PE teachers have been employed in each year since 1999.

Peter Peacock: The following table sets out the number of PE teachers on the teacher induction scheme since its inception in 2002. Earlier information is not available. In addition there will be experienced teachers who have moved to Scotland for whom information is not available.

  

Year
Number of PE Teachers on the Induction Scheme
Newly Qualified Teachers Trained Outwith Scotland**


2002-03
84
2


2003-04
82
7


2004-05
75
7


2005-06
112* 
not known



  Notes:

  *The 2005-06 figures represent the number of probationer teachers provisionally allocated.

  **Information on newly qualified teachers trained outwith Scotland is taken from the annual teacher flow survey.

Health

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive in which NHS board areas operations for reversal of sterilisation are available on the NHS for (a) women and (b) men.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally. Design and delivery of services that meet the clinical needs of patients is the responsibility of NHS boards.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15791 by Cathy Jamieson on 10 May 2005, how many of the reports recorded involving racism proceeded to a prosecution which included a charge of racist aggravation and in how many of these cases the prosecution was successful in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.

Colin Boyd QC: The following information relates to the number of charges reported to the Procurator Fiscal. It is only available from the start of the financial year 2002-03.

  A racist incident as referred to in question S2W-15791 does not equate to a reported charge: not all racist incidents recorded by the police will result in a report to the Procurator Fiscal. It is not possible therefore to equate the number of racist incidents referred to in question S2W-15791 with the number of reported charges referred to below.

  Between April 2002 and March 2005 the police reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service offences involving a total of 10,173 charges which involved either a statutory racial offence or a racial aggravation. This figure was made up of 7,029 statutory charges and 3,144 aggravations. Of these, 662 charges were referred to the Reporter to the Children’s Panel and 7,919 charges were marked to proceed to prosecution. Of the 7,919 charges marked to proceed to prosecution, convictions have been recorded in respect of 4,180 of those charges and a conclusion has yet to be reached in respect of 1,631 charges.

  A Force-by-Force breakdown of the figures requested is provided in the following tables:

  Number of Individual Charges Reported (with Statutory Racial Charge or Racial Aggravation)

  

Charge or Aggravation
Police Force
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
Total


Charge   
Central
136
165
272
573


Dumfries and Galloway
20
31
26
77


Fife
143
179
151
473


Grampian
153
132
160
445


Lothian and Borders
342
365
404
1,111


Northern
58
62
88
208


Strathclyde
1,118
1,190
1,293
3,601


Tayside
149
188
204
541


Charge Total
 
2,119
2,312
2,598
7,029


Aggravation   
Central
14
16
69
99


Dumfries and Galloway
1
17
25
43


Fife
59
56
47
162


Grampian
31
32
45
108


Lothian and Borders
129
147
225
501


Northern
43
72
57
172


Strathclyde
476
540
747
1,763


Tayside
57
93
146
296


Aggravation Total
 
810
973
1,361
3,144


Total
 
2,929
3,285
3,959
10,173



  Number of Individual Charges in which Proceedings were Commenced

  

Charge or Aggravation
Police Force
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
Total


Charge   
Central
90
135
158
383


Dumfries and Galloway
18
26
24
68


Fife
106
124
107
337


Grampian
102
118
119
339


Lothian and Borders
284
299
349
932


Northern
40
45
52
137


Strathclyde
882
946
987
2,815


Tayside
130
154
165
449


Charge Total
 
1,652
1,847
1,961
5,460


Aggravation   
Central
13
15
65
93


Dumfries and Galloway
1
16
16
33


Fife
44
39
34
117


Grampian
30
27
44
101


Lothian and Borders
86
89
169
344


Northern
29
51
44
124


Strathclyde
378
430
579
1,387


Tayside
51
73
136
260


Aggravation Total
 
632
740
1,087
2,459


Total
 
2,284
2,587
3,048
7,919



  Number of Individual Charges with a Guilty Verdict

  

Charge or Aggravation
Police Force
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
Total


Charge   
Central
57
86
70
213


Dumfries and Galloway
10
13
19
42


Fife
65
74
50
189


Grampian
73
78
65
216


Lothian and Borders
182
179
168
529


Northern
23
28
30
81


Strathclyde
526
604
511
1,641


Tayside
87
88
80
255


Charge Total
 
1,023
1,150
993
3,166


Aggravation   
Central
7
9
30
46


Dumfries and Galloway
0
7
7
14


Fife
20
15
7
42


Grampian
24
11
19
54


Lothian and Borders
36
43
44
123


Northern
16
34
19
69


Strathclyde
158
181
217
556


Tayside
23
39
48
110


Aggravation Total
 
284
339
391
1,014


Total
 
1,307
1,489
1,384
4,180

Mental Health

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff members were attacked with weapons in mental health wards in each of the last five years.

Lewis Macdonald: Information on the number of attacks on mental health wards is not held centrally. The information available on violence is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, www.isdscotland.org/workforce .

School Transport

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider supporting US-style yellow school buses as part of its anti-congestion measures.

Peter Peacock: The Executive supports moves to reduce traffic congestion. Use of buses, including dedicated school buses, is one of a number of options which the Executive would be prepared to consider to encourage safer, healthier and more sustainable travel to school. However, statutory responsibility for school transport rests with education authorities.

Scottish Executive

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) resource budgets, (b) staffing levels and (c) administration costs of each of its departments (i) were in each year since 2000 and (ii) will be in each year to 2007.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Mr Tom McCabe: The resource budgets are set out in the Consolidated Resource Accounts for each of the years 2000-01 to 2003-04 and are available on the Scottish Executive website. The resource budgets for departments in 2004-05 are set out in the 2004-05 Autumn Budget Revision Supporting Document and for 2005-06 in the Budget Bill Supporting Document for the year ending 31 March 2006. The resource budgets for each Ministerial Portfolio up to 2007-08 are set out in the Draft Budget 2005-06.

  For the staffing levels of each department in the years 2000 to 2004 I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-12292 on 6 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa. The staffing levels for permanent and fixed term temporary staff at January 2005 are as follows:

  

 
All Staff


Total
4,517.7


Centrally Managed Staff
88.1


Development Department
317.9


Education Department
317.5


Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
550.2


Environment and Rural Affairs Department
1,127.5


Finance and Central Services Department
466.1


Health Department
381.2


Justice Department
257.9


Legal and Parliamentary Services
185.9


Office of the Permanent Secretary
825.4



  Staffing levels for future years up to 2007 have yet to be determined.

  The 2000-01 to 2003-04 administration costs of each of the Scottish Executive’s core departments are set out in the following table. Restructuring of departments in the Scottish Executive over the period affects some of the year on year comparisons. The 2004-05 administration budgets for each core department are set out in the 2004-05 Autumn Budget Revision Supporting Document. The 2005-06 and 2006-07 budgets will be considered in the light of departmental commitments and priorities.

  

Department 
2000-01
(£000)
2001-02
(£000)
2002-03
(£000)
2003-04
(£000)


Development
 17,051 
 16,513 
 17,068 
 12,326 


Education1
 15,897 
 9,670 
 10,755 
 11,604 


Enterprise and Lifelong Learning
 9,800 
 11,039 
 11,401 
 20,008 


Environment and Rural Affairs
 28,769 
 31,481 
 33,200 
 34,912 


Finance and Central Services 
 16,356 
 24,195 
 23,069 
 24,495 


Health
 11,928 
 13,029 
 14,188 
 15,341 


Justice
 16,294 
 15,372 
 9,083 
 10,450 


Corporate Services (including OPS and LPS)2
 47,345 
 51,410 
 61,737 
 58,537 


 
 163,440 
 172,709 
 180,501 
 187,673 



  Notes:

  1. 2000-01 outturn includes spend on HM Inspector Schools which became an Agency with effect from 1 April 2001.

  2. OPS is Office of the Permanent Secretary; LPS is Legal and Parliamentary Services.

Correction

The reply to question S2W-13459, which was originally answered on 27 January 2005, has been corrected: see page 5469 or http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-05/wa0708.htm.